A high speed chase endangering everyone on the road over some items stolen from
Walmart? And then ultimately the chase ends destroying more property than what
was stolen? I support our police on most things but this seems just plain
stupid.

I have to disagree with Biffacular. It is not the Walmart employee or the
police who are in the wrong. It is criminal who first stole, then pulled a knife
on a person, then endangered every motorist around him, then attempted murder
with a vehicle that was in the wrong. It was well within the duty of any of
those officers to shoot this man as he drove toward them. It took great control
for them to apprehend him without a shot being fired. This man was clearly in
the wrong. I am so glad he didn't kill anyone in the process. He should
be charged with attempted murder.

@ Todd_i: Yes, the criminal committed criminal acts - but that is not what
endangered the lives of those around him. Lives were placed in danger -
including the lives of every officer involved and every other driver on the road
- when the police decided to engage in a high speed chase.

He had a
(as in one) cart of stuff that all fit into the trunk of the car - assuming he
was a really creative packer and made sure to get the most expensive stuff, it
is still unlikely he had more than $6000 or $7000 worth of stuff - not really
worth ricking the lives of others over. (Honestly, I don't think there is
a dollar amount you can put on stuff that makes it worth risking people's
lives over.)

This high speed chase should not have happened. If the
police were that determined to catch the guy, they should have called in a
helicopter.

I'm with Todd_i on this one. The driver is reportedly to have pulled a
knife and threatened the employee, simple efforts to stop the vehicle were met
with attempts to do bodily harm. There was ample reason to attempt to stop the
car and arrest the driver and cohorts.

The perp was considered dangerous because he wielded a knife while making off
with the goods. The fact that he drove at the officers and attempted to hit them
also shows that he needed to be off the road. I think the police made the right
decisions.

Sooner or later, this offender was going to kill someone. It seems some who
commented failed to read the part of the article that revealed his criminal
history. It was important to me that he be captured to save lives; not just
merchandise. Thanks to the peace officers for completing the task.

I drove past the aftermath of this disaster. One foot to the left and the driver
of the truck could easily have been killed. He was driving on 3 tires! Rein in
the adrenaline (and the testosterone). He's going to stop sooner or
later.

Of course now they have him on enough charges to lock him up
for a long time. Let's hope it happens.

I agree that our law enforcement made the right move. Yes, it is unfortunate
that lives were in danger, and that there was a result of damaged property. But
if we let all aggravated robberies get away, what kind of message are we sending
to these criminals? "Sure, go ahead and rob any store you want. Just be
sure to drive away really fast so we don't chase after you. We
wouldn't want to hurt anyone. We just want you to have whatever you want
without paying for it."

The only reason this qualifies as a "high-speed chase" is because the
driver turned onto the freeway. There is no mention of 90-100 mph speeds
because the speeds were likely freeway speeds.

No lives were
threatened other than the WalMart employee and several police who were nearly
run over. I am amazed how so many quickly condemn the pursuit of the police
because the writer calls this a high speed chase.

We all drive on
the freeway and nearly everyone drives within 10 mph of the posted speed limit.
For those who condemn the police pursuit, perhaps they should all avoid the
freeway in the future as they endanger lives by their "high speed
driving."

Sampson: You are right this wan't really a "high speed chase". My
wife was on about 11400 south on the freeway, heading north, when she saw tons
of police cars behind her. A few seconds later the cadillac passed her, riding
on at least 1 of the rims. It wasn't really a "high speed" chase.
She slowed down, and said the cadillac passed her "in the far right lane, or
maybe even a bit onto the shoulder" while going about 60 mph. It
couldn't go all that fast without a tire. However, you are totally wrong
about "No lives were threatened other than the WalMart employee and several
police"... Um did you see the article? Did you see the photo of the cadillac
in the bed of the pickup truck? What do you think would have happened to the
driver of the pickup had the cadillac launched a few more feet to the left,
hitting the cab? This guy could have easily killed someone.

"Despite one of their tires being
punctured, the man and a woman inside the vehicle continued onto northbound
I-15. Speeds from the chase got up to between 90 mph and 100 mph, Liddiard said.
Debris from the spiked tire kept breaking off onto the road."

But
is 90 to 100 mph really high-speed? If I drive 90 on the freeway I'm
probably in somebody's way...

The dude pulled a knife, a dangerous weapon and threatened people with it. It
at that point becomes a deadly force situation. He then goes after the cops
with his car. Same thing. The dollar amount of the items stolen makes it a
felony. With the knife, a forceable felony. Cops can chase in this case due to
the multiple forceable felonies.

Yes, this was a good call on the part of the police officers to continue the
pursuit. This man was dangerous, and needed to be stopped. Now that he's in
jail hopefully he'll have a long time (think decades) to rethink his
misdeeds.